Rumour: 'Premium' Version Of PlayStation Network Unveiled At E3

Sony may finally be ready to make a little more cash from its PlayStation Network, with rumours that the PlayStation 3 maker will introduce a "premium" option at this year's E3 popping up weeks before the big video game expo.

According to a report from VG247, one part of Sony's E3 showing will focus on a paid version of its PlayStation Network. Premium class subscribers are said to get access to a free PSN game per month and a streaming music services, presumably among other services, for "less than £50 per year", or under $US70.

Those details sound in line with a survey that Sony sent out last year gauging interest in a paid version of its PlayStation Network. The pricing for the majority of those options was also inline with this latest rumour.

I see where you're coming from but I disagree on your definition here. They aren't charging for their normal online service, nor are they taking anything out of the normal online service. What they are doing is giving you the option of paying money for the ability to play streaming music.

I don't see this as being any different as buying games from the PSN, they are part of the online service, and of course games cost money. This is simply another part of the service, and of course music costs money. Now if they put in another service that ultimately costs them nothing, but is only available to the premium customers, a form of favouritism so to speak, then I would be annoyed to. But as it is now, I don't see this as going against what they said.

They aren't charging for the service they've offered since day one. As far as I'm concerned, they're keeping their word. They're offering a different and additional service on top that is far more generous than XBL.

People sure have some sense of entitlement, to demand something that was never on the table, for free.

I can't see many people going for this. While i think that Sony needed to get into this ages ago, i think they have missed the opportunity to make any real money off their online services. Sure they will get a few people signing up but when looking at those prices (of course they are unconfirmed but still looks to be close to what i would figure) then Australians cold be paying $90 for this "premium" service which really with what is described above is not enough bang for your buck. If sony was to do a risky (aka d*ck) move and they wanted to make money on this then they would remove some online functionality from say their newer library (say less then 1 year old) and charge a fee to play that game online. Once it is more then a year old it goes out of the premium package and into the standard (or for xbots "silver") package and it is then free to play online. Couldn't see sony doing that but i think that is the only way they would see any real money out of this service.

Dang I just went on a PSN binge over the weekend! Paying for XBL which I barely take advanatage of has conditioned to be at least open to this. If there is value there I could definately jump on board.

Also weresmurf, Sony have never said they will charge for multiplayer but have gone on record a number of times before about looking at premium/subscription models for other content stuff you are not already getting for free so calm down a bit.

That's where it'll start Milali. When a company gets their teeth in and they realise their consumer base WILL pay you can bet 'paying for useage of PSN to offset the cost of dedicated servers' etc etc won't be far behind.

I hope Sony don’t start taking away features and add them to a premium list to ring out some more cash. Because it’s going to be hard to convince people to start paying for things that have always been free.

I don’t really see what Sony could want to add. Playing is free, and buying things costs extra, why should I pay to get one free game a month when I can just buy that game from the online store? Right now outside of Borderlands I really don’t play anything online on my PS3, so I really don’t get enough use out of the service to justify paying for it.

guys you have to read it you will still be able to connect and play for free just people who want a added bonus like free access to music and like a free PSN game per month sounds pretty good to me most games on the PSN are over priced so to get a free one per month as-well as other stuff i might be interested most of the games i play are PSN based (pixel junk collection).

Everything I have read makes it sound like the users and reviewers are pushing for a premium service. I dont get it, its free, its one of the reasons I chose a ps3 over an 360 when I was deciding. Its a selling point why is everyone so keep to make a 'premium' service.

I still don't know why they're charging people to stream music... You can access YouTube on the PS3, and subsequently just about every song ever recorded. Hell, you can even make your own playlist. And it doesn't come with ads like VidZone does (by the way, what's happening with VidZone?).

Sony are closer than ever to losing me as a customer forever. I use Linux on my PS3, it's part of why I bought it, now they're telling us they are going to introduce a premium PSN option? Nope, don't want it, free PSN was ALSO another big factor in my buying it. And I won't be upgrading to 3.21, so they've lost any game sales in the future I might have thought about. F.U SONY!!

free psn downloads and im in. some things i would expect are beta testing freebies and maybe another streaming service and discounts? if they can join into a partnership with an ISP and also offer unmetered data for premium users, it would not only boost customers for the ISP but also the premium service with people now having the freedom to download a lot more things with freebies and discounts and it would be a win win situation

Triple AAA games nailing the brief. Indie games surprising people out of nowhere, and expansions and patches that completely turn a game around. It's been a good year for games - now it's time for you to vote for your favourite.